Cooper Pratt Highlights 2025 Biloxi Shuckers Opening Day Roster Preview

[Michael Trzinski]

Last season the Biloxi Shuckers finished third in the Southern League’s Southern Division and qualified for the playoffs, but lost to the Montgomery Biscuits in a three-game semifinal series. Can they go further this year? Let’s take a quick look at their Opening Day roster.

Image courtesy of Matt Colville, Stadium Journey

Headlined by fast-rising shortstop prospect Cooper Pratt, the Shuckers embark on a 2025 season that could see multiple future Brewers stars don their jersey. Pratt, diminutive but athletic outfielder Luis Lara, and pitcher K.C. Hunt bring the most prospect buzz with them, but two recent first-round picks and a bevy of more under-the-radar talents with upside round out the group.

Manager Joe Ayrault has been a manager in the Brewers organization since 2010, and starts his second year at Biloxi. He is joined by hitting coach Kevin Martir, pitching coach Josh Spence, coach Liu Rodríguez, and associate coaches Tyler Thornberg and Matt Lipka.

Starting Pitchers: K.C. Hunt (RHP), Tate Kuehner (LHP), Alexander Cornielle (RHP), Josh Maciejewski (LHP), Nate Peterson (LHP), Mark Manfredi (LHP).

Hunt made six starts for the Shuckers last year and posted a K rate of 29.8%. Much is expected of him this year. Kuehner also made six starts for Biloxi, and performed well at High-A Wisconsin before that. Cornielle was among the top starters for the T-Rats and hopes to bring that success to the next level.

Maciejewski, 29, is the only player on the roster with MLB experience, as he appeared in four games with the Yankees last year. Manfredi also did a nice job in Appleton last season, while Peterson returns for his second year in Biloxi. It is likely only two of these three will be in the rotation to start the year.

Relief Pitchers: Justin Yeager (RHP), Tyler Bryant (RHP), Kaleb Bowman (RHP), Nick Merkel (RHP), Will Childers (RHP), Chase Costello (RHP), Stiven Cruz (RHP), Abdiel Mendoza (RHP), Tyler Woessner (RHP).

Yeager recorded 20 saves for Biloxi and will keep his closer role for a second year, at least until he moves up. Bryant spent two seasons playing in the independent Frontier League before being signed by Milwaukee, and has done well in limited work at Single-A and High-A. He posted a K rate of 32.3% in 20 appearances. At 27, Bowman is the second-oldest Shucker and joins 6-foot-7 Merkel as multiple-, middle-inning pitchers in the bullpen.

Childers pitched at three stops and posted a K rate of 27.3% and pitched in 43 games, second-most of the hurlers on this year’s roster. He showed some excellent velocity this spring and could be a dark-horse candidate to pitch for the parent club before the year is out. Costello spent most of the season on the T-Rats, but showed promise in three outings for the Shuckers. Cruz is the youngest pitcher on the staff at 23 and was a long reliever/spot starter for the Timber Rattlers last season.

Mendoza and Woessner both spent time at Double-A and Triple-A last year, with Mendoza coming over from the Blue Jays organization and will begin his ninth year in professional ball.

(For position players, ages are in parentheses.)
Catchers: Darrien Miller (24), Ramón Rodríguez (26), Victor Torres (24).

Miller is a glutton for punishment, as he was hit by a Southern League-high 28 pitches last year. In fact, Biloxi led the league with 101 plunkings last season. Between HBP and bases on balls, Miller is an on-base machine, fashioning a .392 middle slash number last year including 64 walks. Unfortunately, his arm is a liability, as he threw out only 20% of runners trying to steal.

Rodríguez split time with Matt Wood at Wisconsin last year. He had a batting line of .252/.340/.428 while slamming 10 home runs, and earned the right to spend considerable time on the big-league side in camp this year. (Being a catcher keeps you around.) Torres only had 31 at-bats at two stops and hasn’t had 100 at-bats since 2022, so he is a bit of an unknown quantity.

Infielders: Luke Adams (20), Eric Brown Jr. (24), Ethan Murray (24), Cooper Pratt (20), Zavier Warren (26), Brock Wilken (22).

Adams moves up from Wisconsin, where he batted .227/.443/.397 on the strength of 40 HBP (!) and 78 walks. He hit 11 homers and stole 28 bases, although he was caught 10 times. With Wilken on the team, Adams will most likely move to the other side of the diamond, to first base.

Brown usually plays shortstop, but will probably move to second base to make room for Pratt. Brown slumped to a batting line of .185/.270/.262 last season but did steal 20 bases. He has slipped on the prospect list. Murray can play second, short, or third and will serve as a utility infielder.

Pratt is the next Brewers star (or so the team hopes), and will play shortstop. Last season at two stops, he hit a combined .277/.362/.406 with eight homers and 27 stolen bases. He won a minor league Gold Glove, so he can pick ‘em.

Warren spent last year at Biloxi, and although he didn’t hit much (with a batting line of .206/.308/.342), he can play first, second, third, and at either corner outfield spot. He will probably be the fourth outfielder.

Wilken is another former first-round pick with upside, but also major question marks. The Brewers are still waiting for the guy who hit 71 home runs at Wake Forest to show up. He has hit 22 homers in 570 professional at-bats, so maybe the in-game power is coming. He will be a mainstay at the hot corner, unless the Brewers elect to swap him across the infield for Adams. Most important, for him, will be demonstrating that he's put the beaning that derailed his 2024 permanently behind him.

Outfielders: Luis Lara (20), Bladimir Restituyo (23), Jheremy Vargas (22).

Lara is another stud who will start the season at Biloxi. The petite (5-foot-8, 165 pounds) switch-hitter is a plus defender in center and can steal bases, as evidenced by his 45 thefts last year. He needs to work on his bat-to-ball skills to keep moving up the organizational ladder.

Restituyo came over from the Rockies organization, and will begin his seventh pro season at age 23. He has played mostly center field in the past, but can play all three garden spots, plus second, short, or third in a pinch. He doesn’t walk much, but has a .272 career batting average. Vargas spent last season playing for the T-Rats and can play every position except for catcher. He hit .210/.303/.301 but stole 23 bases during the 2024 season. These two will play LF and RF; it’s just a matter of who plays where.

Summary
If all the stars align, this could be a really good team. If players like Hunt, Adams, Pratt, Wilken, or Lara have great seasons and move up to Nashville, then it might be a different story. But until that happens, fans at Keesler Federal Park should kick back with their fried oysters, fried shrimp, or jambalaya and enjoy some quality Shuckers baseball.

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Brewer Fanatic’s 2025 Top Prospects in Biloxi

• #3: SS Cooper Pratt
• #7: IF  Brock Wilken
• #13: IF Luke Adams
• #16: RHP K.C. Hunt
• #20: OF Luis Lara

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[CheeseheadInQC]

Once Wichrowski and Crow get stretched out this should be a really good pitching staff. I hope Vargas takes the surprise opportunity and runs with it given the lack of outfielders.

[Jim French Stepstool]

I'm a little surprised Yeager is a AA repeat.

Good storylines with this team. Will Bryant continue to do impressive things at a higher level? Can the luster return to the resume for Wilkin, Brown and (to a lesser extent) Murray? As the article stated, will Adams & Wilkin do any flip-flopping? Does KC Hunt continue to impress at a higher level?

And as @CheeseheadInQCmentioned, looking forward to seeing what kind of work Coleman Crow can turn in.